Roland Gift - Biography - IMDb Roland Gift Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Trivia (4) | Personal Quotes (1) Overview (2) 5' 11" (1.8 m) Mini Bio (1) Roland Lee Gift was born in Birmingham, England. He and his two sisters, Helga and Ragna, grew up in Hull where his mother, Pauline, ran several second-hand clothes shops. He received his education at Kelvin Hall School (Bricknell Avenue), but did not receive favorable yearly reports. Andy Cox and David Steele chose Gift as the lead singer of their new band in 1985 after their former band, The Beat, broke up. He worked in various theater, television, and movie roles beginning early in his career after joining Fine Young Cannibals. His first role was in the 1987 film Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. He didn't appear on stage until 1990 when he landed a part as Romeo in 1990 for a production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in Hull Truck Theatre, which had a brief run in the USA at the Staller Center for the Arts.

Later, in 1993, he had a reoccurring role in the popular series Highlander: The Series as the Immortal Xavier St. Cloud. Gift released his first solo album since the official breakup of the band Fine Young Cannibals in 1992, self-titled, in 2002. It featured the single "It's Only Money". He waited until 2007 to go back to the recording studio for a follow-up album. He is reported to have several children, but has made his preference to keep certain aspects of his personal life out of the public eye. - IMDb Mini Biography By: FoxShadow Trivia (4) Lead Singer of the Pop Group, Fine Young Cannibals Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world [1990] He was listed among the "50 Most Beautiful People" in People magazine in 1990. Roland had previously sung with the Akrylykz, a ska band, who released 2 singles. Personal Quotes (1) I think I'm actually quite a materialistic person, I value what it takes to make a car or build a nice house.

Money does change things, but how it changes people depends on how they react to it. See also Roland Gift returns - Lifestyle - NZ Herald News Roland Gift returns 7:21 PM Thursday Apr 11, 2002 SHARE: Music Roland Gift was cool in the 80s, disappeared in the 90s and now he shoots goats in the Coromandel - when he's not reviving his music career. GARTH CARTWRIGHT reports. The hairline may have thinned and jowls superseded cheekbones, yet even at a distance, 39-year-old Roland Gift remains instantly recognisable. And when he sings the years peel away: no one has ever sounded quite like him. At the start of 1990 he was lead singer of the Fine Young Cannibals and among the hottest young British actors. FYC's 1989 album The Raw & The Cooked launched them into the superstar league, shifting five million copies and scoring two United States number one singles. Gift's performances in the films Scandal and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid made him an icon of contemporary London cool.

Indeed, look back on the late 80s and Gift appears to be the London face, undeniably hip, witty and wise. All of which brings us to the obvious question: where has Roland Gift been for the past decade? "I guess the mistakes started when we as a band shifted to New York in 1990," says Gift with the diffidence of someone aware that his re-entry into public life is going to rely on explaining a long absence. He goes on to suggest that NYC distracted FYC to death. They had made their first album in Birmingham. Their second in London. A new city seemed a good idea. Several years later, after much wasted time in recording studios, the truth dawned that New York was not for them. And by then none of the band members were on speaking terms. So in 1996 one of the premier British bands of the 1980s dissolved without so much as a whisper. Gift's continued absence across the 90s sparked speculation in some quarters that he had done a Lord Lucan. Buying a farm in New Zealand only fuelled the myth that he had left London and music for an epic Good Life scenario. Gift laughs.

"Yes, I do own a farm in New Zealand. It's in the Coromandel, which is very beautiful, but I don't actually spend much time there. I pop in for a visit, go goat hunting, then leave. To be honest, since returning from New York I've been based in north London. I did try and leave London twice but that was only to see if I could live in Hull again, and I finally realised I couldn't." Raising children has kept Gift busy. He tried to record a solo album in 1997 only to find the record label for which Fine Young Cannibals had made so much money cancelled his contract the day before he entered the studio. Continued below. Cartoon: Two Flat Whites - Michelle Boag and Peter Leitch "That was a bit of a blow, but now I realise it was fortunate, as my new songs are much stronger than the ones I had written for that album." Two years ago Gift played a series of British regional dates. The response was strong enough to make him chase a new record deal. The result is Roland Gift.

He has not lost his knack for a pop hit, and the album's first single, It's Only Money, is as catchy as anything he has put his name to. "The desire to make music has never left me," says Gift in a quiet, firm voice. "Otis Redding has always been my benchmark for what you should strive for when making music. Ever since I first heard Otis I've wanted to make music that conveyed that kind of conviction and passion. For this album I sat down with an acoustic guitar and wrote songs for the first time. I've never really had the confidence to do that before." Gift is unsure whether the public are willing to embrace him again. His 1980s success appeared almost too easy. He notes that his first film-acting job came before he'd joined Equity, and even the singing came about as a bit of a mistake: he was playing sax in a Hull band and singing the occasional song when a local promoter suggested the band make Gift vocalist "because I had a different sounding voice". Now he realises that some hard graft may be needed. But he's serious. "We made a great deal of money with the Cannibals in a short time and, in a way, it ruined us.

I'm not complaining, it's allowed me the freedom to not have to work. But as a band we suddenly became obsessed with writing bigger hits, selling more than five million copies of the next album ... stupid stuff, really. We lost the sense of making music because we enjoyed it, and this album is very much about me enjoying making music." The film industry has come calling again, too. While in New York Gift turned down all offers as he concentrated on the impossible task of holding Fine Young Cannibals together. Crawling from the wreckage of the band, he found the phone had stopped ringing. Only Michie Gleason, a young director, kept after him. For several years she had promised Gift the lead in a film she wanted to direct. The financing finally came through last year just as Gift entered the studio to start recording. He put the album on hold and made the film, The Island of the Mapmaker's Wife, then returned to the studio. "It's funny," says Gift, a smile playing across his inscrutable features, "after years of inactivity I'm suddenly making music and acting again. Must be something to do with timing. It all feels right, too." * Roland Gift is out now.

Email Lead singer of Fine Young Cannibals Roland Gift where is he now | Life | Life & Style | Daily Express 00:01, Sat, Jun 14, 2014 Roland Gift opens up about his childhood, living on benefits, career and becoming a father[SAT MAG] Roland Gift, 53, was the lead singer of Fine Young Cannibals. The Birmingham trio were one of the biggest bands of the late 80s and scored a number one album with 1989’s The Raw And The Cooked, which included hit singles She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing. After a lengthy break from music, Roland is again writing songs and touring, and plays three Rewind Festival dates this summer. He lives in north London. “I didn’t actually grow up in what you’d call a musical household, but I remember there was always music playing. We had an old radiogram in the corner of the living room at our house in Birmingham and I would put on stuff like The Beatles and Otis Redding. My dad was from the West Indies, so there were lots of calypso records, too. Money was scarce when I was growing up.

My dad went to prison and we were on benefits Roland Gift “Money was scarce when I was growing up. My dad went to prison and we were on benefits. Like most kids, I dreamed of being on Top Of The Pops and joined a band who happened to support The Beat (Birmingham band whose top 10 hits include Mirror In The Bathroom), which is where I met guitarist Andy Cox and bass player David Steele. “After The Beat split, Andy and Dave asked me to join their new band, which became Fine Young Cannibals. At first, we found it difficult to get a record deal – I was told that a black guy fronting a band wouldn’t go down well in America – but we played on a TV show called The Tube and that seemed to get everybody interested. “We released our first album in 1985, which did OK, but we followed that up with The Raw And The Cooked in 1989, which is when it all went a bit mad. The album went to number one here and in America and the singles She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing both reached number one in America, too.

It’s weird to be in the middle of something like that because you still feel like the same person, but everything around you totally changes. I couldn’t understand why so many people were staring at me in the street. I have been playing some new tracks, but people want to hear the Fine Young Cannibals hits [SAT MAG] “I fully expected the band to carry on and make a few more albums, but to be honest, I’m not sure what happened. We just stopped functioning as a band. It was sad, really. There was a lot of pressure from people around us to sell more and more records, but music doesn’t work like that. It has to evolve naturally. “When I became a dad in 1991, I just thought to myself, ‘Can I be bothered with all this?’ Financially I was OK, so I decided to take a couple of years off and that turned into 20 years! I don’t regret that because I had my life back. Me and the missus are still together and I got to see my kids grow up. That’s worth more than anything.

“The band made a couple of singles here and there, but musically I didn’t really get my act together until a couple of years ago. I was writing songs again and with the help of Channel 4 I also started working on a script for a new British crime drama. Last year I toured with Jools Holland. “I have been playing some new tracks at my solo shows, but people obviously want to hear the Fine Young Cannibals hits. That’s great, really, because it proves that songs like Good Thing and She Drives Me Crazy had real quality. Good Thing was on a TV ad last year, almost a quarter of a century after it was released – I guess we must have been doing something right.” Roland plays the Rewind Festival on July 20 in Perth, on August 17 at Henley-on-Thames and on August 31 at Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire. For tickets visit rewindfestival.com/splash . Related articles · November 25, 2016 · Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, by Welsh Cardiff-born singer-songwriter Green Gartside.

Beginning as a Leftist post-punk group led by art school student Gartside, Scritti Politti transitioned into a mainstream pop music project in the early to mid-1980s, enjoying significant success in the record charts in the UK and the US. The group's most successful album, 1985's Cupid & Psyche 85, spawned three UK Top 20 hits wit...h "Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)", "Absolute", and "The Word Girl", as well as a US Top 20 hit with "Perfect Way". The band's 1988 album Provision was a UK Top 10 success, though it only produced one UK Top 20 hit single, "Oh Patti". After releasing two non-album singles in 1991, as well as a collaboration with B.E.F., Gartside became dissapointed with the music industry and retired to south Wales for more than seven years. Gartside returned to music in the late 1990s, releasing a new album, Anomie & Bonhomie, in 1999 (which included various rock and hip hop influences).

In 2005, Rough Trade released the Early compilation, which collected the band's early work. In 2006, Gartside released the stripped-down White Bread, Black Beer which returned to the more experimental era of the band's history "Oh Patti (Don't Feel Sorry For Loverboy)" is a single of the album Provision released in 1988 which continued Gartside's development into synth-funk as well as reggae and other styles. It includes contributions from Roger Troutman, Marcus Miller and Miles Davis, who performed on the single. The song reached the No. 13 on the UK charts. However, the album charted in the Top 10 in the UK (No. 8) but did not match the commercial success of Cupid and Psyche '85 in the US, stalling at No. 113.

· November 8, 2016 · Let Loose are a British pop/rock trio, featuring Richie Wermerling (born Richard John Wermerling, 11 May 1968 in Whitechapel, London) on lead vocals and keyboards, Rob Jeffrey (born Robert George Edward Jeffrey, 30 November 1967 in Romford, Essex) on guitars and backing vocals, and Lee J. Murray (born 14 May 1970 in Edgware, Middlesex) on drums, percussion and backing vocals. The reformed lineup were due to tour the UK on the "Another Time, Another Place" arena tour in Novemb...er 2014, however the tour was cancelled only two weeks after tickets went on sale. The band initially scored minor success in the UK Singles Chart with two of their first three singles "Crazy For You" (#44) and "Seventeen" (#44). They also released "Face To Face" which was withdrawn from sale by their record label. "Crazy For You" was re-released in the UK entering the UK Singles Chart at #24, and climbing to finally reach a #2 peak.

The success of "Crazy For You" led to a remix of "Seventeen"; the track was unable to match the popularity of "Crazy For You" and peaked at #11. Their debut album entitled Let Loose featuring keyboard player Adam Lee was released peaking at #20 and selling 100,000 copies. The album release was followed by the single "One Night Stand" which peaked at #12. The final track to be taken from the album was the ballad "Best In Me" which, according to the album sleeve, was recorded in lead singer's Wermerling's bedroom at the age of fifteen. The track became their second UK Top 10 hit, peaking at #8. "Make It with You" is a song written by David Gates and originally recorded by the pop-rock group "Bread", of which Gates was a member. Only Gates and drummer Mike Botts appear on the song and the song was a #1 hit.

The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Christian Bautista, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black, the Originals, the Main Ingredient, the Whispers, Marc Anthony, Teddy Pendergrass, Don Julian & the Larks, Dennis Brown, Andy Williams, Lou Donaldson, Tony Mottola, The Pasadenas and Marc Cohn have also recorded cover versions of "Make It with You." Ralfi Pagan reached #32 on the Billboard R&B chart in the summer of 1971 with a Latin-soul version of the song. · October 27, 2016 · Benny Mardones is an American pop singer and songwriter who is best known for his hit single "Into the Night". Benny Mardones was born Ruben Armand Mardones on November 9, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio. His father, Ruben Sr., was from Santiago, Chile. Benny only saw his father a few times in his life. His father left Benny and his sister, Louise, when Benny was a baby and eventually returned to Chile.

In addition to Louise, Benny has two half-brothers and two half-sisters who live ...in Chile. Benny grew up in Savage, Maryland and graduated from Howard High School in Ellicott City, Maryland in 1964. He joined the U.S. Navy after high school and served during the Vietnam War. He was briefly married when he was 21 years old, and again in the mid-1980s. After his discharge from the Navy he moved to New York City to pursue his singing and songwriting career. While living in New York, he composed several songs with writing partner Alan Miles. He later wrote songs with fellow singer-songwriter Bobby Tepper, including the legendary song "Into the Night." "Into the Night" is from his album Never Run, Never Hide. He re-released it in 1989, on the album Benny Mardones. The song is unusual for being one of only 10 recordings to ever ascend to the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart twice. The chartings, in 1980 and 1989, were of two similar but separate recordings.

· April 19, 2016 · Jon and Vangelis were a collaborative effort between the singer Jon Anderson (the lead vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes) and the Greek synthesiser musician Vangelis. Together they released a number of successful albums during the 1980s. In 1974, Vangelis was considered as a replacement for Rick Wakeman as keyboardist in Yes, and although the job went to Patrick Moraz, it led to several collaborations with Anderson, who contributed vocals to Vangelis' Heaven and Hell ...(1975), harp to Opera Sauvage (1979), and vocals to See You Later (1980). Anderson left Yes between 1980 and 1983, and during this time the collaboration with Vangelis began in earnest. They two recorded several albums between 1979 and 1991, producing the major hits "I Hear You Now" (UK No. 8), "I'll Find My Way Home" (UK No. 6) and "The Friends of Mr Cairo" (Canada No. 1). Anderson wrote the lyrics, and Vangelis composed the music.

In 1986, Jon & Vangelis made a few attempts at writing a new album, but much of this work was never officially released under the Jon and Vangelis name. Twelve tracks were compiled on 1991's Page of Life, while other songs from these sessions appeared in later works, including "Let's Pretend", the last song on the 1989 album Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe. Anderson ultimately took it upon himself to re-work Page of Life, which was released in 1998 in the United States only with nine tracks. Vangelis did not approve this, and it is cited as the reason for the dissolution of their collaboration. "Sing With Your Eyes" appeared in 1991, as a B-side on the CD single release of "Wisdom Chain" / "Page of Life". In 2011 Anderson approached Vangelis for a possible new collaboration but he did not receive a reply. I Hear You Now is a single of Jon & Vangelis . It comes from their album Short Stories . It was the first single from their together.

The love song was accompanied by B-side Thunder (2; 12); they are the only two album tracks with the vocals of Jon Anderson "down to earth" remains; in other tracks Anderson sings in his floating idiom. However, the album track (5:11) was reduced to single-issue. · December 4, 2015 · Fine Young Cannibals were a British band formed in Birmingham, England in 1984, by bassist David Steele, guitarist Andy Cox (both formerly of The Beat), and singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their 1989 album, The Raw & the Cooked, topped the UK and US Album charts, and contained their two Billboard Hot 100 number ones: "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing". In 1990 the band won two Brit Awards: Best British Group, and Best British Album (for The Raw & the Cooked...). Their name came from the 1960 film All the Fine Young Cannibals starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood.

"Johnny Come Home" was the debut single release by British band Fine Young Cannibals, taken from their debut album Fine Young Cannibals. It is similar to the style of many other of the band's hits, a mixture of rock and ska with Roland Gift's distinctive vocals, as well as a jazz-type trumpet solo. It was released in 1985 and was one of the group's most popular hits. The song tells the gritty realistic story of a runaway youth, and alternates from the first-person narrative, explaining how his arrival in the big city has not turned out as he expected, to the view of the parents in the chorus, expressing their wish that he would come home. Although it failed to reach the top 40 in the United States, stalling at No. 76, it was a good start for the group in their native United Kingdom, peaking at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in July 1985. Along with the track "Blue", "Johnny Come Home" did reach No. 9 on the dance chart in the US.

In later years the song's title would serve as the title for a Jake Arnott novel published in 2006 whose plot line is reminiscent of the themes discussed in the song. · August 5, 2015 · Special 2x1 of a Great English Band!! Spandau Ballet are an English new wave band formed in London in the late 1970s. The band was inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic movement, and became one of the most successful groups to emerge during the New Romantic era. The band's classic line-up features brothers Gary and Martin Kemp on guitars, vocalist Tony Hadley, saxophonist Steve Norman and drummer John Keeble. The group's debut single "To Cut a Long Story Shor...t", which reached No. 5 in the UK in 1980, was the first of ten UK Top 10 hits, including a No. 1 single "True", a No. 2 single "Gold", and a No. 3 single "Only When You Leave". The band has had eight UK Top 10 albums, including three "greatest hits" compilations and an album of re-recorded material.

In 1984 they received the Brit Award for technical excellence. Through the Barricades is a studio album by Spandau Ballet. It was released on 15 July 1986 by Epic Records. The album reached number seven and remained on the UK album chart for 19 weeks. It produced three UK hit singles: "Fight For Ourselves" (#15), "How Many Lies" (#34) and the band's final top ten hit, "Through the Barricades" (#6). The song lyrics were inspired by love prevailing over the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the death of a member of the crew in the Troubles. In a mainly critical review for AllMusic, Dan LeRoy claimed: "Rocking up Spandau Ballet's smooth white-boy soul, Through the Barricades manages to avoid utter disaster via the tuneful creations of songwriter/guitarist Gary Kemp." LeRoy argued "the production and mix prove the undoing of this effort.

Most of the tunes demand guitar and drum bombast; instead, the riff-rocking Cross the Line and Fight for Ourselves, in particular, are undercut by the polite-sounding rhythm section." However, he praised the title-track, which he said "became a deserved hit." · June 17, 2015 · REO Speedwagon (originally styled as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. Hi Infidelity (1980) contained four US Top 40 hits and is the group's best-selling album, with over ten million copies sold. Over the course of its career, the band has sold more than 40 million records and has charted thirteen Top 40 hits, including the number ones ..."Keep On Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling". Not being less their amazing ballad "In My Dreams" is considered one of the best eighties ballads ever.

REO Speedwagon's mainstream popularity dissipated in the 1990s but the band remains a popular live act. "One Lonely Night" is one of the singles included on the eleventh studio album named Wheels Are Turnin', released in late 1984. It is their second best-selling album, tied with Good Trouble, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard 200. It also features "Can't Fight This Feeling," which was REO's second and longest-running number one single. The LP version contained a cut-out stroboscope. Other singles released were "I Do' Wanna Know", and "Live Every Moment". · May 8, 2015 · The Connells are an American band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They play a guitar-oriented, melodic, power pop style of rock music with introspective lyrics that reflect the American South. Though mostly dormant, the band continues to play to this day. Quite popular in Europe, the band is best known for their song '74–'75 which became a Top 20 hit in the UK.

Guitarist Mike Connell formed the band in 1984 along with his brother David Connell on bass, Doug MacMillan on vocals,... and future filmmaker John Schultz on drums. This initial four-person line-up was quickly supplemented by the addition of George Huntley on second guitar, keyboards, and vocals. Around the same time, former Johnny Quest drummer Peele Wimberley replaced Schultz, finalizing the "classic" line-up of the band. "74–'75" is a 1993 single from the album Ring. The song became a big hit in Europe, particularly in Sweden and Norway where it topped the singles charts in 1995. The accompanying music video was directed by Mark Pellington. It was shot at Needham B. Broughton High School in the band's hometown Raleigh, North Carolina in 1993, and featured members of the Class of 1975, juxtaposing yearbook pictures with footage of the same people as they appeared in 1993.

· November 7, 2014 · Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks was born in May 26th of 1948, she is an American singer and songwriter who in the course of her work with Fleetwood Mac and her extensive solo career has produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums. She was deemed "The Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll" and one of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time" by Rolling Stone, and, as a member of Fleetwood Mac, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. As a solo artist..., she has garnered eight Grammy Award nominations and, with Fleetwood Mac, a further five. Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 along with her romantic partner Lindsey Buckingham. Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Nicks and Buckingham, Rumours, released in 1977, was the best-selling album of the year of its release and, to date, made sales of 40 million copies worldwide, which makes it the sixth biggest selling studio album of all time. The album remained at No.

1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks and reached the top spot in various countries worldwide. The album won Album of the Year in 1978 and produced four U.S. Top 10 singles, with Nicks' "Dreams" being the band's first and only U.S. number one hit. Nicks began her solo career in 1981 with the album Bella Donna, which reached Platinum status less than three months after its release, and has been certified quadruple-platinum. She has released a total of eight solo studio albums to date, with her most recent titled 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault, released in October 2014. Nicks is known for her distinctive voice, mystical visual style, and symbolic lyrics. "Talk To Me" was the first single from her third solo album, Rock a Little. The song peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and claimed the number-one spot on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart for two weeks in 1985. The song was written by Chas Sandford, who co-wrote John Waite's "Missing You".

Sandford also plays most of the instruments on "Talk To Me". The song was brought to the attention of Nicks by producer Jimmy Iovine, "who was always on the hunt for a hit song." Stevie says she didn't like the song at first because she had trouble with the vocals, but Iovine persisted and she eventually recorded it. Jim Keltner was in the studio next door doing some drum overdubs during the recording process. After Nicks explained her dilemma, Keltner gave her some words of encouragement and offered to stay with her and be her audience. Nicks sang the song twice during the session and then it was finished. Artists – F Artists – F by • Artists - F , Music - 1980s Former members of Birmingham 2 Tone ska outfit The Beat, bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox, formed this band in 1984 with newcomer singer Roland Gift completing the line-up. The name was taken from the film All The Fine Young Cannibals (1960) which starred Natalie Wood and Robert Wagner.

FYC had two chart-topping singles in the US(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1950s , Music - 1960s • Tags: Surf music They were acclaimed as pioneers of the surf sound alongside Dick Dale, Link Wray and The Ventures, but The Fireballs (from Raton, New Mexico) - who enjoyed a US chart-topper with Sugar Shack in 1963 - had no idea what the term actually meant.

Nevertheless, their signature melodic instrumentals Torquay and Bulldog, anchored by George Tomsco's guitar - replete with(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1980s Former Free vocalist Paul Rodgers sang with Jimmy Page - making his first public appearance since the demise of Led Zeppelin - at the ARMS Charity Concerts in 1983, a series of concerts in support of Action into Research for Multiple Sclerosis which were organised by Ronnie Lane (ex-bassist for The Small Faces and The(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1980s Made up of three sisters and two brothers of the Pearson family, Deniece, Doris, Lorraine, Stedman and Delroy, Five Star were managed by their father Buster who had worked with Wilson Pickett and Desmond Dekker before setting up his own record label, Tent Records. Early singles were moderately successful but it was the #3 hit System Addict in 1986 which established(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1950s This group first recorded as The Five Willows (after originally starting out as The Dovers in 1950).

Original members were Richie Davies, twin brothers Ralph and Joe Martin, John Steele and Bobby Robinson - who all came from Harlem. Lead vocalist Bobby Robinson left the group to set up his own record labels in 1952 and(...) by • Artists - F This Los Angeles group recorded a host of singles on US labels but only ever released one in the UK - Swing Pretty Mama b/w I'd Climb The Hills And Mountains. Released on Oriole, their sole UK single is now highly collectible and fetches upwards of £500. Glenn Larson Vocals Bruce Belland Vocals Don Clarke Vocals Ed Cobb(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1960s , Music - 1970s Beginning life as a flower-power band in San Francisco during the 'summer of love', The Groovies came to define the true spirit of goodtime rock & roll and pop. The Flamin' Groovies brought Anglophile flash and San Francisco stoner cool to the desolate early 70s music scene.

They were a great garage band and wrote(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1980s • Tags: Australia Led by singer Julie Mostyn and astute songwriter/guitarist Jeff Sullivan, the Flaming Hands were one of the great inner-city Sydney (Australia) bands of the early 80s. The band's intense yet tuneful blend of 1960s soul, R&B and psychedelic pop attracted a loyal following. The band signed to the Phantom label and issued the delightful I Belong(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1980s , Music - 1990s From their obscure acid punk beginnings in Oklahoma City in 1983, through to critical acclaim in the 90s and mainstream success in the new millennium, The Flaming Lips consistently defied definition. For more than two decades they brought an uncompromising originality to the pop arena.

The band spent the 80s and 90s striving to find(...) by • Artists - F , Music - 1950s • Tags: Doo-Wop Cousins Jacob 'Jake' Carey and Ezekial 'Zeke' Carey formed this doo-wop group in Chicago, Illinois, after meeting Paul Wilson and Johnny Carter at a black Messianic Jewish synagogue. Earl Lewis soon joined them, and after a series of name changes, (The Swallows, El Flamingos, The Five Flamingos), wound up being known as The Flamingos. Sollie(...) That's So '80s That's So '80s Email the human league “Years ago we wouldn’t trust anyone who didn’t wear eyeliner,” says singer 47, of the kohl-eyed, gender-bending look he perfected for performing hits such as 1981’s “Don’t You Want Me.” Now graying, he and bandmates Joanne Catherall and Sue Sulley, both 40, will go on tour this summer. “There was never a point that all three of us wanted to give up,” says Sulley.

“But I can’t be still doing this in 10 years’ time. We’re just going to get a load of people to take our places, and we’ll sit around and collect money.” duran duran With billowing shirts and military duds, “we were on the leading edge of fashion,” says singer Simon LeBon, 44. “Miami Vice took its look from us.” Crockett and Tubbs are gone, but the original lineup behind made-for-MTV hits such as “Hungry Like the Wolf” has reunited for the first time in 18 years to tour and record a new album. “We all needed to assert our independence,” says bassist John Taylor, 43, wed to Juicy Couture cofounder Gela Nash-Taylor. While drummer Roger Taylor, 43, retired to a farm with his family and guitarist Andy Taylor, 42, made solo albums, keyboardist Mick Rhodes, 41, kept the band going with LeBon, who has three daughters with his model-wife, Yasmin.

LeBon predicts longevity: “We’ve all got our own hair!” mike score a flock of seagulls His crazy blond pompadour once looked like a Frank Gehry design, but these days Score, 50, is down to a simple ponytail. “I always wear hats,” says the Liverpool-born hairdresser turned singer, who lives in Rockledge, Fla., with third wife Tara, 31. “Partly because I’m going bald, partly because I get burned as hell.” The band fell apart in 1988 after hitting the top with songs such as “I Ran,” but in 1995 he reformed the group with new backup. (And without his drummer brother Ali Score: “We don’t talk that much.”) He may some day abandon what’s left of his rock flock for a passion he developed when his music career ebbed: boat carpentry. “There was a point where I was trying to buy a 50-ft., 50-year-old boat,” says Score, who has a 30-year-old daughter from his first marriage.

“I’d have rebuilt it and sailed off into the sunset.” the bangles The Bangles, who broke up in 1989 and regrouped 10 years later, are going on tour to promote a new album, Doll Revolution. But it’ll have to be quick—over by homework season. “Once school starts, it’s tougher,” says guitarist Vicki Peterson, 45, referring to her sister, drummer Debbi Peterson, 41, who has a 5-year-old, and singer Susanna Hoffs, 46, who has two kids with her husband, director Jay Roach. Even if they never top 1986’s “Walk Like an Egyptian,” Vicki says, “we’re much better, happier, more fulfilled humans than we were in the ’80s.” roland gift fine young cannibals Fifteen years after his sexy falsetto drove fans crazy with the No.

1 hit “She Drives Me Crazy,” Gift, 42, still performs as Fine Young Cannibals, minus fellow members David Steele and Andy Cox: “I did a tour and wondered if people would think, ‘This is a rip-off.’ But it wasn’t like that at all.” Gift, who lives in London with his longtime girlfriend and their two children aged 9 and 12, also has a farm in New Zealand: “People get caught every now and again growing marijuana on it! I grow mostly trees.” colin hay men at work Who can it be now? The Aussie band’s 50-year-old singer, wed to singer Cecilia Noël, has performed on NBC’s Scrubs and just released a new album, Man@Work. He recently dodged a ticket when stopped by an L.A. cop: “He looked at me and said, ‘Flock of Seagulls, right?’ ” howard jones In one essential way the 48-year-old singer-songwriter remains a child of the ’80s, when he had his biggest hit with 1985’s “No One Is to Blame.” He still likes big, spiky hair.

“I’ll probably be dyeing it when I’m 80,” he jokes. Crediting Buddhism for keeping him at peace, he continues to release albums on his private label Dtox, which he runs out of the home near Maidenhead, England, that he shares with his wife of 24 years, Jan, and their three kids aged 9, 14 and 17. Still recognized “on a friendly, not intrusive level,” he recalls one high point of the hit years: performing for Princess Diana at a party in the ’90s. “She had her arm on the piano,” he says. “Blimey, that was special.” martin kemp spandau ballet “We represented the ’80s,” says Martin Kemp, 41, bass player in the band remembered for 1983’s “True.” “As soon as the ’90s hit, we were past our sell-by date.” His own expiration date, though, almost came in 1995 when he was diagnosed with two brain tumors.

Given a clean bill of health in ’98 after surgery and radiation, he resumed acting, which he and his brother, guitarist Gary Kemp, 42, had both pursued after the band broke up in 1989. “I’m a villain in everything,” says Kemp, who starred in the British soap EastEnders and next plays Dracula for TV. Neither Kemp talks to their old bandmates—Tony Hadley, John Keeble and Steve Norman—after several legal disputes, but “I love those guys,” says Kemp, who lives near London with his wife, ex Wham! backup singer Shirlie Holliman, 40, and their two kids. “We discovered the world together.” andrew ridgeley wham! While George Michael, 40, built a huge career after Wham! went blam in ’86, Ridgeley, 40, flopped with a solo album. Wealthy from recording and cowriting hits, including “Careless Whisper,” he retired to Cornwall, England, with his longtime love, Bananarama’s Keren Woodward. Today he surfs and golfs. “The perfect lifestyle,” says pal Peter Lascelles. Show Full Article

Question: Roland Gift was the lead singer with which group of the 80's and 90's?
Answer: Fine Young Cannibals